India will be conducting 40 WTO members meeting in February next year to muster support for food security and other issues. The declaration was made by Commerce and Industry Minister Suresh Prabhu at an Apparel Export Promotion Council (AEPC) event.

The proposed meeting would be in the the backdrop of developed nations forming groupings to prepare the ground for pushing investment facilitation, preparing rules for e- commerce, promoting gender equality and reducing subsidy on fisheries with a view to curbing illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing.

India has been regularly expressing issues related to agriculture at World Trade Organisation (WTO). Raising voice against bringing new issues, especially those which are not directly linked to trade, on the negotiating table is also done by India.

Prabhu said he will also organise a meeting regarding Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with the European Union. The agenda of the meeting with EU will be to discuss the trade related issues and to discover the ways to make trade-off beneficial for India.

About EU India Trade

EU is one of the greatest market for India for garments. This sector generates measurable employments for India as per Suresh Prabhu. Adding more to his statement Prabhu said that the government is working on making a standard operating procedure for any new FTA to be entered. India is also in discussion with Canada and Australia for the FTA.

The event was also attended by Textile Minister Smriti Irani. In her statement she also said that the department will do a lot in the coming year for the sector and promised to focus on skilling and assured all support to garment manufacturers.